UEFA Cup is a football competition organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for European clubs. Qualification for the cup is based on performance on club performance in the national league. The UEFA Cup is also known as European Cup 3. Based on European football competition and importance, the UEFA cup comes second after UEFA Champions League.
UEFA CUP football competition replaced the Inter-Cities Fair Cup in 1971, with the Tottenham Hotspur football club winning the first season of 1971-1972. Traditionally, the UEFA Cup competition was open to all runners-up clubs in the domestic leagues. With the merging of the UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup to the UEFA Cup in 1999, domestic cup competition winners could now enter the UEFA Cup competitions. The new rules also made it possible for clubs eliminated in the 3rd qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League to enter and compete in the UEFA Cup.
The winner of the UEFA Cup has a chance of keeping the original trophy for one year after which they hand it over to the Organizer and keep a replica of the original trophy. The rules also allow any club that wins the UEFA Cup competition consecutively three times to keep the Original trophy.
To qualify for the cup, a team must finish in runners-up places in various top European leagues. Winners of the main cup competition qualify automatically for the UEFA Cup. France and England are the only two countries that usually grant UEFA Cup places to winners in the secondary cup competition. Team qualifying for the UEFA Cup through different means may bring complications on Cup competition qualification. A club that qualifies for both the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup usually enters the champions league and leaves the UEFA Cup place to another club.
The 2008 UEFA Cup edition was the 37th edition of the Cup. The final match was held on 14th May 2008, pitting Rangers from Scotland against Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg at the City of Manchester Stadium. Zenit St. Petersburg was the match-winner, by 2 goals to 0. Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyrianov scored the winning goals, making the club the current holder of the UEFA Cup trophy.
UEFA Cup football competition is organized by the Union of European Football Associations. Performance at National League and the Cup competition is the main qualification criteria. Runners-up in various leagues have high chances of entering the UEFA Cup competition. The first winner of the UEFA Cup was Tottenham Hotspur football club in the 1971/1972 season. The current Cup Holder is Zenit St, Petersburg of Russia, who won the 37th edition of the UEFA Cup on 14th May 2008.
References
2008 UEFA Cup final, Web.
UEFA European Cup Football, Web.